Anime Survey 2024 Preliminary Results

Preliminary Results of the 2024 Anime Survey

In this document we report preliminary results from the 2024 Anime Survey. A goal of this series of preliminary working papers is to provide the fandom with a brief overview of some of the basic findings. In the interest of keeping this short and interesting, we have gone through the results and found some of the most interesting and relevant findings for anime fans. Many of the findings not reported here will eventually be included in future academic papers.

We would like to again give special thanks to the participants and moderators on reddit this year. Thank you to everyone who spread the word and shared with friends. Thank you!

Method and Participants

We handed out QR codes to the survey to fans at AnimeFest (Arlington, TX, July 25-28, 2024) and emailed our volunteer list and solicited participants from various anime-related websites from September 12 to October 20, 2024. After removing participants that did not complete a majority of questions, the present data includes 1,605 anime fans (68.4% men, Mage = 27.01, SD = 7.56). Similar to prior years, the majority of respondents were from the United States (56.8%). However, we received responses from 70 different countries including Canada (7.8%), the UK (4.5%), Germany (4.3%), Australia (2.4%), Philippines (1.7%), Poland (1.6%), France (1.4%), and Brazil (1.2%).

1. What are fans’ gender and sexual orientation?

Anime fans were asked to self-identify with any of the below categories. The data reveal that men are significantly more represented in our surveys than are women. The results are largely similar to last year.

We also asked about sexual orientation. Participants were asked to pick the option that best describes them. The numbers reveal, as in previous years, that the majority of the fandom identifies as straight.

2. What other activities and interests do fans have?

Fans were asked to indicate which of the following interests applied to them (they were allowed to choose as many options as they wanted). The list looks similar to prior years.

3. How frequently do fans participate in fan-related activities?

We asked fans to indicate how frequently they participated in different activities (1 = never, 7 = often). Being fans of anime, watching official anime related media was the most frequent activity. This was followed by consuming fan-made media and talking with other fans. The results are similar to prior years.

4. What is fans’ relationship status?

We asked fans to select any of the below types of relationships. First we examined the difference between 2019 and 2024 surveys. Fans were more likely to be single in 2024. Next, we examined gender differences. As in prior years, men were more likely than women to be single.

5. What is the political orientation of fans?

Fans rated their political orientation on a single item (“Politically, I am…”). In the 2018 survey we observed fans tended to report leaning toward a liberal political orientation. This year we again found that fans tending to be liberal. Split by gender, women tend to be more liberal than men.

6. Do fans read / write fanfiction?

Fans that indicated being an “anime-related fanfiction fan” in the list of identities (25.1%) were asked how often they read and write anime-related fanfiction on a 7-point scale (1 = never, 7 = often). Fans read fanfiction quite often. Fewer fans wrote fanfiction with any regularity.

7. What are fans’ genre preferences?

We asked fans to rate their preferences for various genres of anime on a scale we constructed from the 2016 survey (see https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JWTEW4PYVCntBCueFBLonX3EFFdUmL9l/view). Fans rated the items on a 7-point scale (1 = do not like, 7 = very much like). Comparing preferences in 2016 to 2024, fans showed decreases for drama and mecha anime. Slice of life and action showed smaller decreases. Hentai showed a small increase, but still below the midpoint of the scale (i.e., 4).

8. Do fans engage in extreme behaviors?

In a prior study we asked furries, Star Wars, and anime fans “do you think it’s possible for an anime fan to take their interest in anime too far and, if so, when do you think that may be?” (Reysen et al., 2022; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1niilKsI9snBQnLxnCWGwOTPSAE-UPR-1/view). The themes that emerged across the three fandoms included: (1) interest in anime impedes on one’s day-to-day life, (2) anime overtakes other facets of their identity, (3) pushing one’s opinion on others, (4) blurring the line between fantasy and reality, and (5) high sexual attraction toward fan interest (e.g., anime characters). Based on those themes we constructed and administered a measure of these behaviors (7-point scale, 1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). Four of the five dimensions were rated below the midpoint of the measure. Pushing opinions on others was above the midpoint for these extreme behaviors.

9. How many fans play dating games?

We asked “have you ever played a dating sim, dating game, or otome game?” For the 38.7% of fans who indicated that they do, we asked how often. Although there are a sizable number of fans who have played such games, they do so with little frequency.

10. How do fans with waifus view their connection?

This year 46.8% of fans indicated having a waifu or husbando. We asked those fans to indicate the type of connection that they have with their waifu / husbando. For the majority of fans the connection was similar to a desire for a romantic relationship. Less fans indicated wanting to be a friend, while a smaller number indicated a sexual relationship.

11. Do fans endorse conspiracy theories?

In a prior study we noted that preferring certain genres of anime is related to endorsing paranormal beliefs (Reysen et al., 2017; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JWTEW4PYVCntBCueFBLonX3EFFdUmL9l/view). Individuals who score higher on paranormal beliefs also tend to score higher on measures of belief in conspiracy theories (e.g., Lobato et al., 2014). Fans rated a single-item measure of conspiracy beliefs (Lantian et al., 2016; “I think that the official version of the events given by the authorities very often hides the truth”) on a 9-point scale, 1 = completely false to 9 = completely true. We compared anime fans’ mean rating to a sample (U.S. MTurk, N = 292) from Lantian et al. (2016, Study 2). Anime fans rated their belief in conspiracy theories lower than the midpoint of the measure (i.e., 5) and significantly lower than participants in Lantian et al. In other words, anime fans are low on conspiracy beliefs compared to a community sample.

12. What is fans’ risk orientation?

Fans rated their degree of risk orientation on a single-item measure (Maestas & Pollock, 2010; “In general, people often face risks when making financial, career, or other life decisions”) on a 7-point scale. We compared risk orientation in a sample of students (N = 480) from Maestas and Pollock with anime fans. Anime fans tended to lean toward being risk adverse, while the student sample tended to be open to risks.

13. What are cosplayers’ motivations?

In a prior study we observed that cosplayers indicated being motivated to participate in the anime fandom for entertainment, escape, belongingness, eustress, and aesthetic motives (Reysen et al., 2018; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fkmfHbgijotuX8YvAFEtn0mKgHDMMBRK/view). However, the measure of motivation in that study was about being part of the fandom in general rather than directly assessing motivations for cosplaying. This year we asked fans who indicated being a cosplayer (22.7%) to rate their motivations specifically related to cosplaying (“Cosplaying…”). The prior results were largely supported. Fans rated all of the motivations above the midpoint of the scale (i.e., 4), although coping with stress was just slightly above the midpoint.

14. What are fans’ moral values?

In a prior study we asked fans to rate their values on Schwartz’s (1992) 10 universal values (Reysen et al., 2021; https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XKMZa88C74ONyHpTN09slqZ6eUGJi0gB/view). This year we included a measure of values from moral foundations theory (Graham et al., 2009). The 5-point scale (Atari et al., 2023) assesses (1) care: trying to not harm others, (2) equality: desire equal treatment with others, (3) proportionality: believe that people should be rewarded fairly, (4) loyalty: loyalty to groups, (5) authority: accept authority, and (6) purity: avoiding contamination. We compared anime fans to a sample from Atari et al. (2023) which included 3,902 people from 19 countries. Anime fans rated all of the dimensions significantly lower than participants from Atari et al. However, anime fans rated their moral values of loyalty, authority, and purity much lower that the other comparisons. The two values above the midpoint of the measure indicate that anime fans endorse caring for others and fairness in distribution of rewards. As anime fans tend to be liberal, these results align with past research showing care and fairness associated with liberal attitudes, and loyalty, authority, and purity associated with conservative attitudes (Kivikangas et al., 2021).

15. What do fans think about piracy?

We asked fans to rate two items regarding their attitude and frequency of pirating anime / manga. The results show that fans have a positive attitude and often pirate anime / manga.

I have a negative attitude toward pirating anime/manga.

I often pirate anime/manga.

16. How often do fans listen to soundtracks?

Fans rated a single item (“I often listen to anime soundtracks”). The results revealed that anime fans listen to anime soundtracks fairly often.

17. Do fans consume cosplay pornography?

Fans rated a single item (“I often look at cosplay pornography”) regarding frequency of viewing cosplay pornography. The results show that fans do not frequently view cosplay pornography, and that this is especially the case for women.

18. How often to fans watch hentai?

Fans rated a single item (“I often watch hentai”), which found a notable gender difference in hentai-viewing, with men watching more frequently than women.

19. How often do fans ship characters?

After rating their frequency of shipping, fans rated their preference for types of ships (7-point scale, 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). The results showed that women are more likely to ship characters than men in the fandom. Men endorsed preferring woman-man ships, especially over man-man ships. Women, on the other hand, agreed to preferring all types of ships.

I often ship characters from anime/manga.

20. Do fans think that other fans are too sexual online?

Based on feedback from fans, this year we asked fans to rate a single item (“I think anime fans are too open about their sexual preferences online”). The results are largely neutral.

21. Do fans think that other fans put too much pressure on studios?

A single item (“Fans too often pressure studios to rush production”) showed that fans think that other fans put too much pressure on studies to rush production.

22. Do fans watch filler episodes?

Results of a single item (“I often skip filler episodes”) showed that fans do frequently watch filler episodes.

23. Do fans regulate their emotions?

Fans rated a six-item measure of emotion regulation (Preece et al., 2023) on a 7-point scale, strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree. The measure assesses two dimensions: expressive suppression (e.g., “I keep my emotions to myself”) and cognitive reappraisal (e.g., “I control my emotions by changing the way I think about the situation I’m in”). We compared anime fans with students (N = 245) from Preece et al. The results showed small differences with anime fans using expressive suppression more and cognitive reappraisal less than students sampled by Preece et al.

24. Did fans have adverse childhood experiences?

Based on feedback from a fan, we included a two-item (“Before my 18th birthday parents or adults in my home swore at me, insulted me, or put me down more than once,” “Before my 18th birthday I lived with someone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic;” yes, no) measure of adverse childhood experiences (Wade et al., 2017). This measure is used as a clinical screener because it predicts various poor health outcomes. We compared anime fans to the sample results published in Wade et al. The results showed that anime fans reported lower percentage of "yes" responses for one (either emotional abuse or alcohol) and both of the indicators. These data suggest that anime fans experienced a slightly lower amount of adverse experiences than a community sample.

25. How do fans rate their satisfaction with life this year?

Many years we measure fans’ satisfaction with life with a single item (“In general, I am satisfied with my life”) rated on a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). The results show a slight decrease in ratings compared to last year.